Astronauts May See Solar Eclipse Shadow From Space

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When the moon blocks the sun in a rare "ring of fire" solar
eclipse Sunday (May 20), six astronauts living in space just
might see the shadow on Earth created by the event from their
home in space, NASA officials say.

The International Space Station crew will likely not see the peak
of the solar eclipse, but the astronauts may see the shadow from
a partial solar
eclipse as it moves across the Pacific Ocean, NASA spokesman
Bill Jeffs told SPACE.com.

"They may be able to see the moon’s shadow as a disc on Earth
when they are nearest the full eclipse point at 23:36 (between
Kamchatka [Peninsula] and the Aleutian Islands)," Jeffs told
SPACE.com in an email. The space station crew operates on
Greenwich Mean Time (Universal Time), putting their time closest
to the eclipse's peak at about 7:36 p.m. EDT.

On Earth, observers along a wide section of East Asia, the
Pacific Ocean and western United States will also see a partial
solar eclipse. Other observers, located along the center line of
the eclipse's path, will see the moon block out 94 percent of the
sun, weather permitting. [ Annular
Solar Eclipse of May 20 (A Photo Guide) ]

Sunday's solar eclipse is a relatively rare event known as an
annular
solar eclipse, an eclipse in which the moon is at a point in
its orbit that makes it too small (as viewed from Earth) to
completely block the sun. Instead, the moon blocks most of the
sun, leaving a ring of light (formally known as an "annulus"),
that can be a dazzling sight to onlookers observing through safe
solar filters. The effect is also known informally as a
"ring of fire" solar eclipse.

The eclipse's so-called "path of annularity" begins in China's
Gulf of Tongking, to the north-northwest of Hainan Island, where
the local time will actually be May 21. The moon's shadow then
moves east, passing over Tokyo, Japan, and heading out over the
Pacific Ocean before making landfall in northern California and
crossing seven other western U.S. states to end in northwestern
Texas at sunset.

Past observations of solar eclipse shadows from space have
revealed dark, roughly circular blemishes on Earth. During solar
eclipses, this shadow moves across the Earth at a speed of about
1,243 mph (2,000 kph).

The space station is currently home to two Americans, three
Russians and one Dutch astronaut. The crew is scheduled to be in
its sleep period during the best times to see the eclipse shadow
from space, Jeffs said.

However, one of the American astronauts — NASA veteran Don Pettit
— has been a prolific photographer of Earth
from space and it is possible he or his crewmates may make an
effort to observe the moon's shadow making its way across the
western Pacific Ocean.

Editor's note: If you snap a great photo of Sunday's annular
solar eclipse and would like it to be considered for use in a
story or gallery, please send images and comments to SPACE.com
managing editor Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com.

You can follow SPACE.com Managing Editor Tariq Malik on
Twitter@tariqjmalik. Follow
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